Alabama

Pick 'em: Week 9 college football picks

Andrew Luck and Stanford could use a convincing win over USC to build more credibility that it's a legitimate national title contender.

Last week's record: 4-6 (rough, rough week)

Season record: 54-26

Auburn 23, Ole Miss 13. Look for some ugly offense by both teams. The Rebels played their best game of the year last week and still lost to Arkansas. The Tigers got whipped by LSU after their worst game of the year. Auburn will find a way to extend its home winning streak to 13 games.

Marshall 28, UAB 23. What, you expect back-to-back wins by the Blazers? Think again. This close road loss will officially make UAB ineligible for a bowl.

Stanford 41, USC 20. It's a road trip for Stanford. But the Cardinal will be ready before a nationally-televised audience. This is a chance for Stanford to get into the public's mind as a legitimate national championship contender, and Andrew Luck won't disappoint.

Nebraska 23, Michigan State 17. The Spartans are due for a letdown after two huge home wins over Michigan and Wisconsin. Now Michigan State hits the road, where earlier this season the Spartans lost big to Notre Dame and squeaked out an ugly win over Ohio State. Nebraska pulls off the upset.

Wisconsin 27, Ohio State 20. It will be interesting to see how the Badgers respond to their first loss while on the road in Columbus. Ohio State's offense is getting better as injured and suspended players return.

Oklahoma 31, Kansas State 17. Bob Stoops hasn't lost two straight games since 2003 and has never lost back-to-back Big 12 games. The Sooners looked bad against Texas Tech last week, but I'm not going to bet against Stoops' ability for his teams to quickly rebound.

Georgia 27, Florida 13. Mark Richt, who is 2-8 against Florida, badly needs to win this game. John Brantley is supposedly going to return as the Gators' quarterback, but it's questionable how healthy he really will be. Georgia's defense will win the day.

Oklahoma State 52, Baylor 31. Baylor can score. Baylor can't stop the run or pass. That second sentence is a bad combination against Oklahoma State.

Georgia Tech 31, Clemson 28. The last time Clemson started 8-0 was 2000, and the Tigers lost 31-28 to Georgia Tech the next week. Clemson has had a great undefeated run, but it feels like it will end sooner rather than later. Tech has lost two in a row and badly needs a win at home.

South Carolina 17, Tennessee 9. If the Vols weren't starting a freshman quarterback, I would strongly consider going with Tennessee in the Gamecocks' first game without Marcus Lattimore. But the South Carolina defensive line will be too much.